Missouri men’s basketball has struggled on the road this season, compiling a 1-6 record in true road games. The Tigers traveled to Oxford, Mississippi on Jan. 18, looking to improve that record against Ole Miss.
A large part of Missouri’s struggles on the road has been its inability to compete early on. Tuesday night, the Tigers gave the Rebels their best effort, putting together arguably their strongest first half of the season.
Freshman forward Trevon Brazile continued to impress and set the tone early with a block and a 3-pointer from the corner.
“We believe in [Brazile],” redshirt junior guard Jarron Coleman said. “He’s got a high ceiling.”
Although the offense started off slow, Missouri’s defense stepped up. The Tigers forced four turnovers in the first eight minutes, giving them a 13-11 lead with 11:23 remaining in the first half.
Missouri would pick it up, letting their defense turn into offense. Junior guard Amari Davis came off the bench and led the way scoring for the Tigers. Davis scored 13 points in the first half, going a perfect 5-5 from the field as well 3-3 from the free throw line.
“They didn’t stop the ball,” Davis said. “That allowed me to shoot the mid range.”
Missouri shot 55.6% from the field in the first half, well above its average of 42.4% for the season.
The Missouri defense suffocated the Rebel offense, holding them to 25.8% from the field and 20% from three in the first half.
An indication of the Tigers’ dominance came late in the first half when Brazile blocked a shot off the backboard and Davis took it coast to coast for a slam. Missouri’s dominance forced Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis to use all four timeouts in the first half, leaving him with none remaining for the second half.
The second half started off just as hot as the first. Senior guard Javon Pickett dished a pass from the left wing to junior forward Kobe Brown at the low post. Brown backed down Ole Miss forward Jaemyn Brakefield and finished over his left shoulder to put the Tigers up 40-23.
Ole Miss used zone defense against Missouri throughout the night, but the Tigers limited their 3-point attempts and found success with Brown at the high post.
“Our personnel matches up with zone defense well,” Davis said.
Ole Miss cut the lead down to 10 points with 7:46 remaining. The Tigers responded with a 15-0 run to put the Rebels away for the rest of the game.
Davis remained the leader for Missouri’s scoring attack, finishing with 23 points and shooting a perfect 10-10 from the field.
Brown finished with 15 points and 7 rebounds, and Coleman collected a team-high 13 rebounds to go along with his 8 points.
“I’ve been trying to focus on rebounding,” Coleman said.
Missouri held Ole Miss to 34.4% shooting from the field and 27.3% from three for the game, easily putting together one of their best defensive performances as a team.
“The better we can become as a defense, the better we can become as a team,” Missouri head coach Cuonzo Martin said.
The Tigers defeated the Rebels 78-53 and improved to 8-9 at the time.
Edited by Brandon Haynes | bhaynes@themaneater.com
